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Res 117-82 7/20/1982 RESOLUTION NO. RESOLUTION DESIGNATING AN EASTSIDE AREA AS BLIGHTED AND REQUESTING THAT THE TEXAS INDUSTRIAL COMMISSION ACCEPT THE BLIGHTED AREA AS ELIGIBLE FOR COMMERCIAL PROJECTS WHEREAS, an area hereafter called the Eastside Area is located within a portion of Enumeration Districts 61 and 62 of the City of Wichita Falls, Texas and is bounded by Spur 447 from Eastside Drive to Rosewood; east on Harding Street from Rosewood to Collard Street; south on Collard Street to Trout Street; west on Trout Street to Paradise Street; south on Paradise Street to Eastside Drive; and northwest on Eastside Drive to Spur 447 (See map in attached study) ; and, WHEREAS, the attached study contains detailed findings which show that the Eastside Area contains a substantial number of substandard, deteriorating, and deteriorated structures and suffers from a high relative rate of unemployment; these conditions impairing the sound growth of the city and constituting economic and social liabilities; and, WHEREAS, overall objectives of the City of Wichita Falls include the development of vacant land in the Eastside Area and the redevelopment of existing substandard structures; and, WHEREAS, the availability of financing of projects for commercial uses under the Development Corporation Act of 1979 (Article 5190.6 Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes, as amended) will contribute significantly to the alleviation of the blighted conditions found to exist in the Eastside Area; and, WHEREAS, projects for commercial use will be projects compatible with existing businesses in the Eastside Area and limited by the conditions and cri- teria listed in the attached study; and, WHEREAS, the Board of Aldermen of the City of Wichita Falls, Texas will review all project descriptions for approval of specific projects for commercial uses in order to determine whether such projects are consistent with the city's objectives for redevelopment of the Eastside Area; and, WHEREAS, the City of Wichita Falls is currently preparing plans for the expenditure of funds within the Eastside Area in order to make drainage improvements along Holliday Creek, these improvements to begin as soon as practical and to include the anticipated expenditure of local, CDBG, and other available Federal funds. NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE BOARD OF ALDERMEN OF THE CITY OF WICHITA FALLS, TEXAS, THAT: The Eastside Area is hereby designated as a blighted area by the City of Wichita Falls and that the Texas Industrial Commission is requested to accept the blighted area for commercial projects in accordance with the provisions of the Development Corporation Act of 1979 and the administrative rules and regulations adopted under its authority. PASSED AND APPROVED THIS THE day of �{ 1982. l A Y 0 R ATTEST: zil�: CITY CLERK C ; C ANALYSIS OF PROPOSED EASTSIDE BLIGHTED AREA SUMMARY The area shown on Map 1 has been nominated for designation as a blighted area. Analysis of the area indicates that Blighted Area designation is justified. The area suffers from a relatively high unemployment rate and has a substantial number of deteriorated or deteriorating structures. These conditions impair the sound growth of the city and constitute an economic and social liability. INTRODUCTION When an area is declared a "Blighted Area", certain types of businesses become eligible to use Industrial Revenue Bonds (IRBs) for financing. Created by an act of the Texas Legislature, the Development Corporation Act of 1979 allows the issu- ance of IRBs by development corporations within "blighted or economically depressed areas or Federally assisted new communities within a home-rule city or a Federally designated economically depressed county of less than 50,000 persons." IRBs are used within 46 states allowing the "users" of the bonds or facilities financed by the bonds to pay interest rates which are normally less than prime lending rates. Additionally, buyers of IRBs pay no income tax on interest earned. The advantages of IRBs make them attractive as an implementation tool for the public/private redevel- opment of blighted areas. Blighted areas, according to the Development Corporation Act of 1979, as amended, are "those areas and areas immediately adjacent thereto within a city which by reason of the presence of a substantial number of substandard, slum, deteriorated, or deteriorating structures, or which suffer from a high relative rate of unemploy- ment, or which have been designated and included in a tax incremental district. . . , or any combination of the foregoing. . . (which) substantially impair or arrest the sound growth of the city, or constitute an economic or social liability and/or menace to public health, safety, or welfare in the present condition and use. " TO: Stuart Bach, City :,Ianager F701m: Blighted Area Co::rnittee DA^E: May 21, 1982 RE: BLIGHTED AREA BOUNDARIES The Blighted Area o. ;g Committee has met and is proposing that you consider the area bounded on the North by Edison and Harding Streets, on the East by Collard Street, on the South by Eastside Drive, and cu Lminating on the West at the intersection of Eastside Drive and Spur 447 as the Blighted Area Boundaries. cc: .�'lanning Dept. Blighted Area Conmitt2e Angus Thompson Reginald Robinson, Jr. Jessie wil?i aris Itargaret Davis -2- The best available data has been used in this report. The area being con- sidered comprises most of Census Enumeration Districts 61 and 62, which are contained in Census Tracts 104 and 113 respectively. The entire area is within Planning Sector 2. Whenever possible, data for the smallest area has been used. However, the analysis area is reasonably homogeneous, and Tract and Planning Sector data is probably representative of the area being studied. AREA DESCRIPTION AND DEVELOPMENT TRENDS A recent land use survey (1980-81) of Enumeration Districts 61 and 62 indicated a large amount of vacant land and a mix of deteriorating residential and commercial uses. Most businesses are concentrated along Eastside Drive and Harding Streets. A public housing project is located in the area. About 44% of the land is vacant. Table A LAND USE COMPOSITION EDs 61 and 62 Land Use Percent Commercial 1.0 Public* 23.7 Residential 30.6 Vacant 44.1 Industrial 0 Source: City of Wichita Falls, Planning Department, 1981 * Includes public buildings, parks, railroad ROW, and street ROW. Development in the area is stagnant. According to 1970 Census data, 99% of the homes were built before 1950. Examination of building permit records revealed that there has been very little construction of new businesses in the area over the last 20 years. There are some development constraints in the area, although these constraints do not appear to be severe enough to account for the low rate of development. Much of the good highway frontage land is divided into small, irregularly-shaped parcels. These small parcels need to be assembled under a single ownership prior to develop- ment. -IT*, OF WICHITA FALLS 4 \�O �i� 4 I n 40" y� r T� WA*TE WATER r; 3'111LL F �� 4 ^ o e TREATMENT PLANT P <� CA ~In I U E O D STREET � 0" n o INILLIAMS' G O ST PARK v Ll o -j A, u CNANCE ST. 5 r t O t lMMCl7LN o 0 $ 5 V �PA�K:; R003EVELT [3T a ��'• V: O SP4DDER < u V. 1N000i 700Z 3T ..PARKS` LEFALL L,r TULSA G �CC�C f CC1 00 ; FULLER .: 2 CL J �O� �ONNER O ¢[ ST > W ;:. a p < Z 300 47St _ MARCONI ST WREZ [W] ST o A, � WELCM [_, ST �t l rul =� MORGAN L inSULLIVAN sT O J W O U RI$TOL 2, 1ROUT TREET S; o W � Wr > O ironkh n t� � °'' PECAN 1�11STT OAK < l�� 1500 F O ST ° z gt ELM 1! � K JP!* Oo Fq O o p CA, O g m � �LONI J yt [JA NIC�.� a[ ST r t O J / O Y L lL T 3r Z O .�� ` vuwwll EJ - S �O• V MORf I FT Or�RTSL�n [ ST c MY P OZ A > 4 0 3T FT MORTN ST 0 �� I-ps` n C us wT e�e� CALVES Zl© � Boo W Zt M1Cq 9 Y 3TE u < CONNE Tf+. ROAD SWA-1fyTZ IOOWS LN MARON p OSAGE AV. W < u LFOU TAW Ac > > I CITE Q do OCEOL A AV. e o/ WATER ~CMAL�fER ` > P� � BRYAN I^ t PLANT 0 y ( w W AI 14MLM AK / 1 O z n UNOERW F = + AVENUE -' O O eoNos z .^, O � AVENUE NAWT N > ERRAL F ST z W ~ J EN ST n O y K W W � lR[LANO 3T a •.y Z � � � a WH,TE ST AV < c� EASTSIDE AREA Map 1 -3- A more serious problem is the Holliday Creek floodplain which covers part of the area. The floodplain must be considered in any economic redevelopment plan or action for the Eastside area. Any commercial redevelopment that occurs in the area designated as flood plain must be accomplished in accordance with Flood Plain Ordinance No. 3282, as amended. This ordinance requires elevation and/or floodproof- ing of structures. Requirements of the ordinance apply to new construction and any reconstruction which increases the value of the building by over 50%. The Eastside area does have assets for development which have not been thor- oughly exploited. The area is near the central business district, and is crossed by two major roads: Eastside Drive and Harding Street. The recent completion of Spur 447 (which is a continuation of Harding Street) could encourage redevelopment of the area if it can be made an attractive area for private investment. Criteria 1: Housing The Eastside area meets the first criteria for a blighted area: "the presence of a substantial number of substandard, slum, deteriorated, or deteriorating struc- tures." The condition of the housing stock in this area is substantially below the city-wide average. A Housing Condition Survey made by the Planning Department (1980-81) indicated that approximately 83% of the area's housing structures were either classified as deteriorating or dilapidated. This is a significant number, and is central to illustrating that this area of the city is blighted. Table B HOUSING CONDITION PLANNING SECTORS 2 AND 3 Standard Deteriorating Dilapidated Sector's Percentage of Housing Structures 17% 42% 41% City-Wide Average Percentage 78% 18% 4% Source: City of Wichita Falls, Planning Department, 1981 -4- Methodology for Table B: The housing condition survey was conducted in the fall and winter of 1980- 81. Texas Pictoral Standards were used to grade the City's housing condition. Standard indicates a structurally sound house; Deteriorating indicates a house structurally sound but needing repair; Dilapidated indicates a house that is not structurally sound and lacks plumbing or electricity. Criteria 2: Unemployment The Eastside area meets the second criteria as a blighted area because it "Suffer(s) from a high relative rate of unemployment. " In April, 1982 the unem- ployment rates for Census Tracts 104 and 113 averaged 8.6% while the city rate was 7.6% (Source: Texas Employment Commission, April, 1982) . In reality, the unemployment rate in this area was probably even higher, because the chronic unemployment problems in this tract have probably caused some residents to drop out of the job market. Approximately 75% of the persons in the area are below 80% of the city's median income. (Source: 1970 Census.) RESULTING GROWTH IMPAIRMENT In order to qualify as a blighted area, the city must determine that the condition of unemployment and/or deteriorated structures "substantially impair or arrest the sound growth of the city, or constitute an economic or social liability and/or menace to public health, safety or welfare in the present condition or use." The City of Wichita Falls has adopted policies which state that infill of vacant land within the city limits is necessary in order for the city to grow in an orderly fashion. (Vacant Land Study 1981) This analysis has shown that 44% of the land in this area is vacant despite its closeness to the urban core and relatively good highway access. Development constraints are not severe enough to explain the current lack of new development in the area. It appears that the high unemployment and deteriorated conditions of existing structures are responsible for the stagnant development, and that these conditions impair the orderly devel- opment of the city. The chronically high unemployment rate and poverty in this area create economic and social liabilities for the city. \_ -5- PROJECT APPROVAL CRITERIA Industrial Revenue Bonds are a form of public subsidy. Therefore projects using IRB funds should serve the public interest. The following criteria should be used when reviewing IRB projects in the Eastside area: 1. The project should avoid displacement of area residents. When displacement is unavoidable, a reasonable effort should be made to assist the displaced persons and mitigate any hardships involved. 2. The project should not have a significant negative impact on existing residential areas (see map) . Development near residential areas should include buffering and screening. 3. The project should comply with the Wichita Falls Flood Plain Ordinance No. 3282. Projects with large amounts of runoff should use storm water detention or other methods to reduce peak flood volumes. 4 . The project should be compatible with other projects in the area. :i i J� S __ z e= - I7.�^••,�-'..`�"-',tee •� .��r'i?' _� � - -- A..,,„.ter � `' /i i� ..<-�I